Prologue Before the Prologue
by Winekita
Summary: Bonus Prequel Chapter to Papi version One. AE to Blood of Olympus (with obvious spoilers to the rest of the book), in which Festus returns to camp after the battle with a dead Leo in tow. T because it's a nice letter.


**_This is a stand-alone chapter of_ Papi_ that explains what happened between Gaea blowing up and the events in _Papi_'s prologue. Remember, this is an AE where Leo does NOT tell anyone of Calypso during the war and where Festus brings him back instead of taking him straight to Calypso._**

**_I had this idea a while back and it's been nagging at me for some time. So, here you go! A super awesome bonus chapter in all it's glory!_**

**_Disclaimer: I own nothing you recognize as canon._**

**_Obviously, there will be BoO spoilers running rampant through this chapter._**

* * *

**The Prologue Before the Prologue**

Piper immediately felt relieved when a familiar bronze shape flew out of the smoke. The shape itself was smoking, but not as badly as the ground below the initial explosion site.

Festus landed on three legs, his forth one obviously broken. Most of his plates had fused together, not to mention half his stomach was blown away.

Half the camp ran up, Piper and Jason in the lead. Festus snarled and blew steam when someone came a little too close for comfort.

"Easy, Festus," Piper said, lacing her voice with charmspeak. "Where's Leo? Leo?" She called out to the son of Hephaestus.

Festus seemed to deflate some. He lowered his head and Piper gasped.

There was Leo, still harnessed to Festus's back, his torso hanging off to the side limply. His clothes were unrecognizable and in tatters (only his tool belt seemed to be unharmed and whole), and blood poured out from various shrapnel wounds on his back and lower body. His arms, which looked deformed and broken, were charred and covered in soot, as was his back (at least, the parts of his back that _weren't_ littered with wounds were). His legs were still straddling the dragon, but they too looked broken and strained in their current position.

Piper ran up and took Leo's head in her hands. She immediately wanted to cry.

Blood welled up between her fingers from the gashes in his head. Hundreds of scratches and wounds littered his face, outlining a broken nose, a black eye, and swollen lips. His face was also sooty and charred, even smoking a little.

Leo's eyes were milky and glazed over, staring into space, lids half-closed.

Piper lowered his head back down so that she wouldn't have to look at his dead eyes again. She would never un-see that. She knew she would have nightmares about Leo's dead body for years…

Jason wrapped an arm around her shoulder for a moment. "Help me get him down," he said, his voice catching.

Eventually, the duo got him unharnessed and set him down onto the bare ground. Jason closed Leo's eyes before stepping back to let the rest of the camp see.

Many people looked away after one glance at Leo's broken body, either disgusted or heartbroken. Will Solace looked over the son of Hephaestus once and immediately confirmed him dead. Piper felt tears stinging in her eyes, but she held firm.

She grabbed the bundle in her pocket and began to unwrap it.

Hazel came up and shook her head. "No, Piper. You can't."

"I have to," Piper said, gritting her teeth. "Leo gave it to me and I'm going to use—"

She fell silent. The cure that Leo had given her wasn't even there! How had he made it look like she had…

Piper glared at Hazel. "What did you do?" she snarled at the daughter of Pluto.

Hazel looked ashamed. "Leo made me use the Mist to make it seem like you got the vial. He kept the real one."

"So you knew of his plan?" Jason questioned. "You knew he would sacrifice himself?"

Frank was suddenly next to Hazel. "We both knew. Leo told us to keep quiet about it. He said you guys would try to stop him."

"And why didn't you?" Piper almost screamed.

"Because, unfortunately, he knew we wouldn't. Out of the six of us, Leo knew we would be the ones least likely to stop him," Frank explained.

"He said it was because we _Romans_ understand the meaning of his own sacrifice," Hazel finished.

Piper shook her head. "Then where is the vial?"

Jason was already checking Leo's tool belt, asking for the physician's cure, but came up empty-handed. "He doesn't have it…"

A snort sounded from above. Festus looked down upon the body of his master. His ruby eyes assessed the situation, carefully scanning Leo's prone figure.

Suddenly, a panel opened up. Festus crouched down, his head resting next to Leo. Piper watched as a syringe popped out of the panel on the side of Festus's neck. In seconds, it found a vein in Leo's limp arm and was injecting something into him.

Hazel gasped. "He gave Festus the cure…?"

Her question was soon answered when Leo's eyes shot open and he jolted forward as if he had been shocked. He gasped painfully, his eyes wide and twitching. They were still a little milky, like he couldn't see, which worried Piper.

Then, brown returned and Leo relaxed slightly. His breathing was ragged, but seemed stable. His shoulders slumped. He looked at his arm, which still had a needle sticking out of it.

Festus took out the syringe and promptly crashed onto the ground. He was still activated, just not moving anymore. The only thing that could move were his ruby eyes.

Soon after Festus fell, Leo's eyelids fluttered and his eyes rolled back. Leo collapsed backwards again. Jason managed to catch him before the son of Hephaestus's head hit the ground too hard. Piper rushed forward and sighed when she saw Leo's chest rise and fall in a steady rhythm.

"He's alive," she muttered, her voice catching.

Will Solace dodged Festus and bent down to once again examine Leo. He nodded and called over his shoulder, "Get a stretcher! We need to get him to the Big House _now_."

* * *

Leo woke with a searing headache, stomachache, chest ache…actually, _everything_ ached! He couldn't feel much, just a dull throbbing pain all over his body.

He opened his eyes. His left eye was working fine, although everything was blurry at the moment. But his right eye…he couldn't see out of it!

_Styx…what happened? Did something stab my eye?_

He motioned to touch his right eye with his hand, but found that he couldn't move either of his arms. He craned his neck, which felt unbearably stiff, to see that both of his arms were lifted up on either side of him, each hanging in a comfortable sling. Both of them were in full casts, with a couple signatures decorating the bandages. He looked at his lower body, realizing with a jolt that both his legs were in the same condition, lifted up above the bed in slings like his arms. His waist was hidden by thick blankets and sheets, but Leo figured he must have an almost full body cast going on.

_I must look like Jake did when I first met him…_

"Wha…?" he coughed. His voice sounded like it would if he were being choked. Swallowing felt really difficult, as did breathing if he tried to breathe through his mouth.

Leo tried to look down upon his chest, but found that he couldn't. It took him a few seconds to realize he must have a neck brace on, which explained the immobile neck movement failures.

"Well, looks like Sleeping Beauty decided to wake up."

Leo slowly maneuvered his head in the direction of the voice. Will Solace was standing there, smiling at him.

Leo blinked at the son of Apollo questioningly.

Will nodded. "Welcome back to the world of the living, buddy. That physician's cure brought you back to life…though it didn't heal your injuries.

"The casualties from the battle kinda drained our nectar/ambrosia supply, so we were forced to give you just mortal medicine until some new supplies come in. Sorry about that."

Leo grimaced. "Eye…" he managed.

"Oh, don't worry," Will said, holding up his hands in surrender. "An area around your right eye was pretty badly damaged. You've just got bandages over it right now. Your sight is fine."

Leo relaxed. "L-Limbs…?"

Will nodded. "Give it a few days and your arms will be fine. By then we might have some ambrosia and nectar for you so we can heal up your legs. Otherwise, your legs will need a few weeks in the casts. Regardless, you'll have to spend about a month in a wheelchair."

Leo winced. That sounded like _so much fun_…

The door to the infirmary opened. Will turned his head and said, "He's awake now. No contact, though, guys."

Within seconds, Leo was surrounded by the rest of the Seven, plus Nico, Reyna, Coach Hedge, and Chiron (in wheelchair form). Leo tried for a cheeky grin, but winced when his cheek twitched in pain.

Piper smiled. "Hey, Repair Boy. How you feeling?"

"Ick…"

Jason nodded. "That's what you get for sacrificing yourself, jerk. We're still mad at you for not telling us, by the way."

Leo rolled his eye. "Had…to be…done," he forced out.

Hazel placed a hand on his head, stroking his curls. "Don't try to talk just yet, Leo."

The son of Hephaestus blinked at her in appreciation. Frank nodded.

"You look like you lost a boxing match with a non-metal dragon," he commented.

Leo stuck his tongue out, really wishing he could retort with a smart-alecky comment that wouldn't hurt to say. Even sticking his tongue out made him wince.

Chiron smiled. "It's good to have you back, Mr. Valdez."

Nico crossed his arms. "My father's not too pleased about this whole 'coming back via physician's cure' thing, but he said that he'll look the other way just this once since you saved the world."

Leo sighed in relief. _Good_, he thought. _Now I don't have to worry about the lord of the dead's wrath…_

Reyna interrupted his thoughts. "Just so you know, Octavian had a hand in killing you (as well as himself). So, with him gone, you don't have to worry about a sudden trial appearance letter asking you to participate in your execution. Frank and I had the emergency Senate vote to clear your name."

"You're welcome," Frank said proudly.

Leo smiled painfully and groaned, "Thanks…"

Will placed a bag of liquid onto one of the IV stands and stuck a needle into a part of Leo's arm that wasn't covered in the cast. Leo couldn't even feel it, probably because everything else was hurting and took precedence over a teeny needle.

A few seconds later, his eyelids began to droop. Exhaustion crashed into him. He heard Will say to the others, "That's enough excitement for today. Leo needs his rest now, guys."

Leo closed his eyes and fell into a deep, dreamless sleep…

* * *

A few days later saw Leo without an eye patch or arm casts and enough strength to get out of bed and into a wheelchair. He couldn't yet haul himself around, so Piper and Jason alternated between themselves on driving the son of Hephaestus places. Will told them Leo was not allowed in the forges or Bunker Nine, so Leo immediately whined and complained.

As soon as he was out of the infirmary, a lot of people came up to sign his leg casts and congratulate him on his sacrifice. Leo thought it was a little awkward, but beamed nonetheless at all the attention.

Leo's whines about not being able to tinker finally got on Will's nerves, so the son of Apollo at least allowed him to fix up Festus, who was about as broken as his master. It would take a while to rebuild him (again), but now it would take longer since Leo was also in the recovery process.

It was slow going, especially since he still had a neck brace on and wasn't allowed to leave his chair, but Piper and Jason helped out by holding something down, handing the son of Hephaestus things that had ended up out of reach, etc. Even little Harley helped out and kept Leo's spirits up by telling a joke or two. Leo appreciated it fully.

* * *

About a week after he was allowed out, the gods called the Seven to Mount Olympus. It was wish-granting time.

Leo didn't really pay attention to any of the wishes, as he kept his gaze locked on his father the entire time. Hephaestus did the same, pretty much guessing what Leo had in mind.

When it was finally Leo's turn, Hephaestus stood and said, "My son wishes to do this in private. Allow me to hear his wish and I shall discuss it with the council in a moment."

He led Leo down the hall, pushing his son while Leo told him his wish.

"I wish to be allowed to rescue Calypso. I need to return to Ogygia _personally_. You guys said that Percy wished her to be free. Well, I'm taking it up a notch. I wish to free her personally, as soon as Festus is rebuilt."

The god nodded. "Very well."

In the throne room, a piece of Hephaestus returned to tell Zeus. The god of storms rolled his eyes and said, "Fine. I suppose he has earned the right."

Hephaestus returned a few minutes later with Leo in tow. Leo had a proud look on his face, mixed with relief.

Through all the prodding by the rest of the Seven, Leo successfully avoided telling them about Calypso and his wish. He had held firm against Hazel on the _Argo II_ and would hold firm now. He was determined to keep it a surprise.

* * *

So, a month after Gaea had been defeated, Festus was finally fixed and fully functional. Leo was out of his casts and braces, but still had to resort to the wheelchair every once in a while. However, he could at least roll himself around in it instead of having someone do it for him. It freed him up to work on the astrolabe once his friends left him alone.

He placed the astrolabe onto Festus's head, finally installing the completed project onto his buddy.

"Yes," he whooped. "One step closer! Now we just need to go and find her!"

Festus whirred his teeth in agreement.

Leo yawned and slid off of Festus. He sank into his wheelchair and reclined a bit to stretch. A prickling pain in his legs made him halt in stretching. He wiggled his feet around, which made the sensation go away.

Leo sighed. "I guess this chair will be coming with us, huh, buddy?"

Festus settled his head next to Leo, clicking and growling. "I still need it, Festus. My legs aren't strong enough to go without it for a whole day. When we free Calypso, I might need to get somewhere that's too small for you. If I have to be on my feet all day, I'll get too weak. You understand, right?"

Festus clicked and Leo smiled. "Knew you would…"

He yawned again. "We'll leave tomorrow, Festus. I need to catch up on my sleep right now."

Leo leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes. He tried to remind himself to remember to write a note for his friends stating that he'd return…

…but in the morning he'd be too excited to care.

* * *

_**A/N: Ta-da! Hope you all enjoyed this stand-alone! I would have put it within **_**Papi_ itself, but decided, 'hey why not?'_**

**_To all those who read this and were like, 'waaat?' I would recommend going to read my story _Papi_, which would make this so much clearer._**

**_Have fun, guys! I'll update my others stories soon, I just wanted to get this out of my system!_**


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